Vintogorozhie: description and lifestyle

In nature, each creation is beautiful in its own way and is the link of a huge single living system, where all creatures have their own habitat and a corresponding way of life. The only person who does not fit into this "organism" is a person who, instead of living with nature in harmony, destroys it in every possible way.

The consequence of this attitude towards the world around us is the creation of protected areas and the constant replenishment of the pages of the Red Book. Here and vintorogy goat - an unusually beautiful animal - fell into the category of endangered species.

Family of Paralleles

This family includes mammals from the genus of deer-like, which includes not only elegant antelopes, but also such large individuals as yaks, bison, buffaloes, bulls and their somewhat smaller counterparts - sheep, goats and musk oxen.

Regardless of the size and habitat, all animals belonging to this family have a number of common features:

• Males always have horns, whereas females can be without them.
• They do not have fangs and upper incisors.
• All of them are "equipped" with a three-chambered stomach and a caecum.

These herd animals prefer extensive steppes, except for the hornbeam goat, whose habitat is mountains.

Since ancient times almost all representatives of this species have been hunting objects, and some of them have been tamed and domesticated, for example goats, sheep and bulls. This is evidenced by numerous rock paintings that convey scenes of hunting and grazing animals.

In our time, the shooting of representatives of the Polar beet family is allowed only in the reserves, and then in limited quantities, since many of them are listed in the Red Book. The vettorogical goat mahur, for example, gradually reduces its population, and species such as saiga, tour and bison have completely disappeared in a number of countries.

The biggest problem, according to experts on the protection of rare animals, are poachers. It is their illegal activities that make the number of representatives of the Para-croc family constantly decreasing.

Description of the screwed goat

Marhurians belong to the group of cloven-hoofed animals from the family of Polar bears. Vintohorn goat (photo shows it) is named so because its horns have the form of a spiral with almost symmetrical coils. Each of them "looks" in their direction: right - to the right, and left - to the left.

The females have small horns, only 20-30 cm, but the coils are clearly pronounced. In males, they can reach 1.5 m with a body length of up to 2 m and a height at the withers of up to 90 cm. The weight of a male rarely exceeds 90 kg, in a goat it is even smaller.

Vintorogy goat changes color and quality of its wool depending on the season. So, in the winter it can be reddish-gray, gray or white. During this period it is the warmest, with a thick and long undercoat. "Beard" in the animal to the cold is also becoming thicker. In summer, on the contrary, the hair coat of the wormhole goats becomes thinner and acquires a reddish color.

These slender, agile and fast animals have a perfect sense of smell, sight and hearing, which helps them to smell hunters and predators at a sufficiently large distance. Vintorogy goat, the description of which is unlikely to be able to convey the entire grace and extraordinary majesty of this animal, chose an unusual habitat for the representatives of this family.

Habitat

The middle belt of mountains, covered with meadows, and the gorges with steep rocks are the natural habitat of the march. These animals easily overcome small abysses and jump on the most impregnable and sheer cliffs.

They avoid dense thickets of trees, but can climb to alpine meadows, located on the border with glaciers and eternal snows. Their range is the mountains of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India.

Vinthorog goat easily tolerates both summer heat and a cold winter winter. These animals migrate as needed for food or safety for the young. So, they can rise above the forest zone in the mountains or graze on its border, which often happens in winter, when food is getting smaller, and go down to the very bottom for motley grass.

Lifestyle

Vinehorn goats form small herds of 15 to 30 heads, consisting of females with young. Adult males graze most of the year separately and are kept apart in their chosen territory. Young goats have not yet been able to fight for females with a more experienced and stronger older generation, so they organize their bachelor group.

The nutrition of these animals is seasonal. For example, in the summer they go up to the meadows, where they eat grass and leaves of stunted trees and shrubs. In winter, the whole herd descends from the mountains, as far as snow permits, to the lower boundary of the forest, where the branches and leaves of evergreen oak become the main food. For the sake of this delicacy, a screw-horn goat in Asia jumps from branch to tree branch, perfectly balancing at an altitude of 6-8 meters.

Reproduction

The gon in this species of Polaroid begins in November, when the animals ate on the summer pastures and are full of energy and energy to fight for the females. Fights between males rarely end in wounds, usually the weaker goat leaves the battlefield to try his luck with other females.

The winner remains to guard his harem and begins to mate with those goats that have begun estrus. These animals do not have a period of courtship, since the winner simply takes his own, so fertilization occurs quickly, after which the male leaves the female until the next rut.

Goats bear the cubs of 6 months, and immediately before giving birth leave the herd. Kids are born in the spring, when the meadows and trees are green and there is a lot of food around. They quickly get to their feet and immediately start sucking the mother's udder.

Young growth in games and training. Senior goats teach them to look for food, jumping and running around the rocks, which accelerates their growth and gives strength. Females are ready for mating at 2 years, whereas males are only 4 years old enough to be strong enough and experienced to acquire their harem.

Natural enemies

The average life expectancy of the march is 12-16 years, but despite this, their numbers are gradually decreasing. These beautiful animals are protected, and this is confirmed by the Red Book. The vulture goat nevertheless is subjected to destruction by people who kill it for the sake of beautiful horns.

Some animals die for natural reasons, but more often fall prey to predators - lynx, wolves and snow leopards. Particularly affected is the young growth, therefore from the offspring only 50% can survive, which also affects the reduction of the population.

Protection of the Wintershorse Goats

Wherever a horned goat lives, hunting is prohibited, but this does not stop poachers. The animals themselves have found a way to survive - they changed their way of life and began to graze either at the first rays of the sun, or at dusk and at night, remaining in the day protected by rocks or trees.

Climbing high in the mountains, they can behave actively during the day in alpine meadows, where predators rarely appear, but most of the time in summer they prefer the shadow of rocks, and in winter - secluded and inaccessible gorges.